Venerable Anna-Maria Taigi

It seems that the Lord wished to show in her person the alliance of the most eminent virtues and the most extraordinary supernatural gifts with the practice of the humblest, and if we dare say it, the most vulgar and material duties of common life. The history of the Church presents us with the example of a great number of women who, after having lived as Christians in the bonds of marriage, completed their sanctification through a pure and courageous widowhood. Anna-Maria did not know this latter state, for her husband survived her. An honest and sufficient man, she constantly refused to leave the humble position in which she lived, and to provide her family with a secure existence by means of gifts offered to her by wealthy persons whose interest her high piety had won. She did not want to traffic in the gifts of God. Poverty, in her eyes, was a precious state; she loved to feel herself in absolute dependence on her Creator, and to expect everything from heavenly goodness. This unshakable faith was nothing to her activity or her vigilance. She worked with tireless ardor in order to provide for the needs of her family, and used all the means that human prudence suggests. When she saw herself on the point of lacking the necessities, she invoked with firm assurance the support from above, and she was never disappointed in her hopes. Always an unexpected and sufficient help arrived at the moment when all seemed lost. She then willingly received alms as if sent by God himself.

We borrow the following details from a report written by H.E. Cardinal Pedicini, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and Prefect of the Congregation of t cardinal Pedicini Vice-Chancellor of the Roman Church and confidant of Anna-Maria for thirty years. he Propaganda. This document is extrajudicial, for it was drafted before the opening of the inquiry for the introduction of the cause of Anna-Maria Taïgi. This pious prelate feared being surprised by death, and he did indeed survive the venerable servant of God by only six years. His report deserves full confidence. For nearly thirty years, he fulfilled the role of confidant priest to Anna-Maria. Her confessor, not being able to see her as often as he would have liked, had prescribed to her, in the name of holy obedience, to open herself without delay to Monsignor Pedicini. The latter saw her almost every day until the time of his promotion to the purple, and he took care to take notes on everything he witnessed.

"She slept little; in summer, instead of resting after dinner, she occupied herself with spiritual things. She rose early in the morning to prepare for communion, settled everything before going out, leaving instructions for her old mother for anything that might arise. She hastened to go to church and to return as soon as she had finished her thanksgiving. When someone in the family was sick, especially if it was her husband or her mother, she deprived herself of Mass and communion, and was content to recollect herself in her free moments, thus practicing the renunciation of her own will, in order to accommodate herself in everything to the circumstances and the mood of the people of the house and to give them no occasion to murmur. God fully accepted her sacrifices, and he manifested his satisfaction to her several times. She was very attentive and very prudent, in order to constantly preserve domestic peace.

"She took every means to avoid evil and even the slightest shadow of scandal, as much for herself as for others. In her poor and small house, order, cleanliness, and vigilance reigned everywhere. The boys were separated from the girls; furthermore, each bed was surrounded by curtains; hers occupied a separate room. She kept her eyes lowered without affectation when she conversed with men; one would have thought one was addressing a girl and not a married woman. This modesty accompanied her in the midst of household occupations."

She was prudent in her penances, for she performed those that mortify the body without ruining one's health; upon the advice of her confessor, she renounced the macerations she had practiced for some time during the initial fervor of her conversion, because they could destroy her health. This is why she recommended that her spiritual children submit entirely to their confessor regarding penances, because it can happen, and indeed often does, that the devil causes one to undertake extravagant penances in order to weary souls and subsequently render them unfit for the service of God. She preferred that her spiritual children make holy resolutions without committing themselves too easily through vows, because afterwards one may be unable to observe them, leading to pangs of conscience.

When her boys reached a certain age, she wanted them to learn a trade, so that they would not one day be a burden to society. She did not approve of the ideas of our century, where everyone wants to rise above their station and directs their children's education with a view to obtaining civil employment; yet, it often happens that they do not find employment and remain idle.

She politely refused the offers of the D uchess of Lucca, wh duchesse de Lucques Noblewoman who offered her assistance to Anna-Maria. o wanted her to leave her home and assign her lodging near her in her palace: this was first of all so as not to excite the jealousy of other persons employed in the service of the princess; secondly, so as not to elevate herself with her family, and above all to preserve the freedom to serve God and for fear of contracting obligations with the greatest of the century and exposing herself to the peril of betraying or concealing the truth, which does not always please. She also refused to enter into relationships with distinguished persons who would have helped her to improve her condition; she did not want to accept fixed pensions that were offered to her for herself and for her own.

Her lodging became too small for her numerous family; it required the formal order of her confessor to decide her to take another. Her confessor also obliged her to change lodging when her daughter, having become a widow, returned to the family with her children. Anna-Maria loved very much to maintain cleanliness in her small furniture, which was otherwise very simple.

"Burdened with a large family of which she was the sole resource, she always fed them, and she had to provide for their needs by daily miracles, so to speak, by placing all her hope in divine Providence. Her heavenly guide, who precisely wanted her to practice heroic and increasingly perfect virtues, never sent her abundant resources; on the contrary, he wanted her to live from day to day like the birds, as she herself used to say. One cannot admire enough the signs of Providence of which she was often the object, against all expectation, when people who lived far away and knew her very little sent her aid that she had in no way requested. I have several times felt in my heart the inspiration to relieve her indigence without her asking me, and upon going to her home for this purpose, I found her in extreme destitution.

"Hope would degenerate into imprudence and temerity if one claimed to practice it outside the rules that must govern it, and without employing the necessary and useful means. Hence it is that the servant of God, filled with wisdom in her interior and exterior acts, guided in everything by her heavenly Spouse, did not neglect the means that had to be employed in her condition to support her family. If, on the one hand, she refused the generous offers of people who wanted to know her or had received signal graces through her, on the other hand, she worked to earn bread for her children, without waiting for God to always perform miracles; for one must only count on miracles when one has employed all human means.

"God had given her a dexterity and a certain skill of hand which she knew how to use when the occasion arose. At the time of the French occupation, her husband being without employment, she contrived in every way to maintain and feed her large and poor family. She le arned to make women's shoes accord l'époque de l'occupation française Historical period during which Anna-Maria's husband lost his job. ing to the fashion of the time, with knitted soles; she also learned to make corsets. She worked continuously, and in order to be able to fulfill her practices of piety during the day, she deprived herself of sleep. It is thus that she supported her family for a long time. For illnesses and other extraordinary needs which her work could not cover, she resorted to God with a lively confidence; and God helped her, because she had done everything that depended on her. During her painful illnesses, she did not remain idle, even in her bed, and her family never lacked the necessities."

"To her spiritual children and to those who came to ask her for advice, she recommended the use of all the spiritual and temporal means that prudence suggested to obtain the grace they desired; but she wanted them at the same time to always keep in view God, in whom they were to place all their hope."

Among the ejaculatory prayers she liked to use, the same cardinal cites these, which served to maintain a holy confidence in her soul: "Jesus, my hope, have mercy on me! Mother of hope, pray to Jesus for me!"

Her exactitude in providing, as much as it was in her power, for all the needs of her children did not make her harsh toward others. Far from it, she had a naturally compassionate heart, and grace, to which she showed herself so faithful, had further developed this inclination toward mercy, which is one of the most beautiful attributes of a Christian soul.

To help the poor, she took the bread from her own mouth; so that her alms would not be a burden to her family, she worked several hours at night, in order to earn some small resources which she disposed of for them: she acted thus until the time of her great illnesses. When going to the hospital, she always carried some biscuits or good wine for the convalescents. She had her daughters accompany her each time to teach them Christian commiseration by example, while instilling in them the holy maxims of religion. Although she was very poor, she gave alms to all those who presented themselves at her door. She said to the people of her house: "Never turn away the poor; when you have nothing else, give them a piece of bread; you know where it is."

We have already said that she was graced with astonishing supernatural favors: this is not the place to enter into developments. But we wish to point out that when these ecstasies or raptures surprised her in the midst of her domestic occupations, she strove to withdraw from them to better fulfill her humble obligations. This admirably enlightened soul always knew how to subordinate everything to the fulfillment of her rigorous duties. We will quote Cardinal Pedicini again: "As it is not easy to compress a great fire, Anna-Maria could not escape the divine action in her soul, whatever artifice she employed, even in her domestic occupations. It was truly wonderful to find her in ecstasy, broom in hand, in various positions. Sometimes, at the table, she remained motionless as a statue, without moving her eyes, and plunged into a deep stupor. Her husband, believing she was asleep, would shake her with force, without her giving any sign of life; some time later, she would rise quite content and joyful; Domenico would reproach her, saying that one should not sleep at the table; sometimes, persuaded that she was ill, he would urge her to take calming infusions. In order not to cause disturbance and surprise in the family, she distracted herself by all possible means; but how to succeed!"

One of the most interesting depositions made before the commission of inquiry is that of her husband, a good and simple man, as we have already said, who never suspected all the graces God had hidden in the wom an who l son mari Husband of Anna-Maria, whose testimony is central to the cause. ived by his side. His testimony is all the more precious because he cannot be accused of partiality. Moreover, a tone of naivety reigns there which highlights the smallest details and shows us the venerable servant of God in her daily ways. We give some extracts, concerning Anna-Maria's attitude in her home, for it is under this aspect that we especially wish to present her, not wanting to make known the extraordinary lights that have made this poor mother of a family one of the wonders of our century.

"She was resigned to the divine will. In the most painful occasions, she did not burst into groans and sobs, as so many other women usually do; she kept silent and was content to say: 'May the will of God be done!' Furthermore, she animated and encouraged me to suffer for the love of God. If it were things that concerned her, she remained in silence and prayer; how many crosses this blessed soul has had! I remember the circumstance where my son Camillo, now deceased, was surreptitiously taken by the French conscription; my poor wife remained for a long time without being able to speak. Her pain was certainly very great, she felt it keenly; nevertheless, she remained silent and resigned without complaining about anyone, not even the one whom we had good reasons to believe was the author of this fraud and whom she met several times; she encouraged me by making me hope that Camillo would return; indeed, he returned as if by miracle. So also, when my son Alessandro was put in prison for a trifle, my poor wife was afflicted by it, it is true, but she remained in peace and prayed in silence. Likewise when we lost the children, whom she loved very much, she dressed them with her own hands, as she had done for her old mother and for her deceased father.

"Although I had given her full freedom, she wanted to have my opinion before doing anything extraordinary. If anyone in the family fell ill, she lavished care, leaving aside, if necessary, Mass and devotions...

"I believe that the servant of God was graced with several supernatural gifts; as for the ecstasies, I could hardly notice them. I remember, however, that in the evening, while reciting the Rosary, it happened several times that she did not answer, etc. Likewise, at the table, several times she remained abstract, sometimes with a fork in her hand, sometimes motionless for some time; I would call her, and she would resume her occupations with a smile."

Her practices of piety were inspired by great humility. Far from seeking consolations and indulging in the most sublime contemplations, she gave preference to exercises proper to the common faithful.

"To meditate on the passion of Our Lord, she sought out solitary places, the Way of the Cross, the cemetery of the Holy Spirit, and very often the holy crucifix of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, especially on Fridays. She walked barefoot, remained for several hours witho Saint-Paul hors les Murs Place of devotion frequented by the saint. ut speaking, and was absorbed in the consideration of painful mysteries. Although overwhelmed by a thousand sufferings, by poverty, illness, and tribulations of every kind, as soon as she noticed or learned that those who had disparaged or insulted her were being punished by God, she forgot her own needs and those of her family, and undertook the pilgrimages of which I have just spoken and other penances, for the sole purpose of obtaining pardon for her persecutors, following the example of Jesus, who offered his pains to his heavenly Father for his enemies and prayed for them on the cross: Pater, ignosce illis. These acts of virtue were all the more meritorious as the servant of God was naturally inclined to resentment by the vivacity of her character.

"During the last years of her life, she continued to hear heavenly allocutions, but she no longer felt those sweet expansions of the heart, because God wished to test her through spiritual pains that placed her in a state all the more meritorious as it was more painful; she told me then that she saw herself in a corner of hell. In this state, she did not abandon any of her exercises of piety.

"The love of God was the characteristic virtue of Anna-Maria. The flame that consumed her heart was so ardent that, seeing and contemplating God in his works, she had to do herself unspeakable violence. The song of a bird, a flower, the simplest object, were enough to produce an ecstasy. In the early years, God lavished his gifts more generously; she was in a continual struggle with her heavenly Spouse. While sweeping, while doing housework, she was forced to lean against the wall and remain for a long time outside of herself; when she regained the use of her senses, she spoke to God with confidence: 'Withdraw, withdraw, I am a mother of a family.' She then sought to distract herself. The raptures took place in the evening, when the Rosary was recited; her husband was convinced that she was falling asleep and reproached her for it. Sometimes the ecstasies took place in public, at church, before communion. She was desolate about it and did her best to repress the impulses of her heart, the sobs, the interior rending, which could be heard quite well, as if her ribs had been broken."

The venerable servant of God, enlightened from above and filled with grace, willingly poured out these riches that superabounded in her. But while she gave precious advice and consolations, she herself was often exposed to the attacks of the demon and suffered cruel aridities. We read in the report of Cardinal Pedicini: "She had a particular gift for consoling the afflicted. If it were a matter of spiritual things, for which her gifts and lights made her an excellent mistress, whoever turned to her was sure to leave fully consoled. Regarding temporal things, she was not content with showing sterile compassion and giving ineffective consolations; but she willingly used her connections to help her neighbor, although she was so delicate about using them when it concerned herself. She prayed for the relief of the afflicted. If they were people overwhelmed by misery, and she did not have the means to help them, she overcame her shame and asked for alms. She addressed me several times for this purpose, and I hastened to please her. In short, for one matter or another, whether it was lawsuits, illnesses, miseries, domestic misfortunes, and tribulations, all those who turned to her did not leave without being consoled."

The extraordinary visions and ecstasies with which she was graced did not preserve her from the trials attached to the mortal condition. She even underwent very painful ones. Saint Paul, after having been struck down on the road to Damascus and caught up to the third heaven, was not spared. God proportions sufferings to the strength he gives us and to the crowns he reserves for us.

"She endured for several years a terrible war from the demons, who frequently appeared in horrible forms. They tormented her with objections of a satanic subtlety against the incarnation and the passion of the Son of God, against the Eucharist, the last judgment, the eternity of punishments. The poor woman had her mind filled with darkness and could not help but weep. After having received the greatest supernatural lights, she was plunged into an interior desolation, which was, she said, a corner of hell. She remained in this terrible state for the last years of her life. Far from letting herself be cast down by the violence of the temptations, she fervently invoked God, the Virgin, the angels, and the Saints; she resorted to the sacraments and persevered courageously in the practice of virtues. It is thus that she triumphed over this trial, after which her soul appeared more beautiful and stronger."

These struggles did not shake her courage or her resolution. She always went straight on her way, without letting herself be frightened by the obstacles she foresaw, and she wanted everyone to do the same.

"Indecisive and timid characters did not suit her. She said that one must serve God with exactitude and with all the fervor of the soul, but at the same time with love and confidence, without letting oneself be cast down by an excessive fear that leads to discouragement, and which the demon uses to make the path of virtue and the service of a God so good, so loving, and so merciful toward his creatures difficult. Her filial confidence in God often received precious rewards. More than once she had the inspiration to visit the seven basilicas, without possessing a penny to pay for the expense of the small company; she prayed to God and recommended her project to him with simplicity; now, the day did not pass without her receiving in an unexpected way the necessary help. Anna-Maria advised a full and entire confidence in God in the most difficult affairs, spiritual and temporal, because of his immense goodness and his omnipotence. She almost always obtained what she asked for."

She never stooped to flattery. Her letters to the Duchess of Lucca show this clearly. A cardinal, who wished to know her and to introduce her to his sister, asked her to communicate to him any insights she might have. She wrote to the cardinal to tell his sister to meditate on these three points: "What she was,... what she is,... what she will soon be, and that she should prepare herself for death."

The Cardinal Pedicini, who saw her poverty, offered her an apartment in the Chancellery Palace; she refused again, preferring to live poor by working rather than to receive pensions. Cardinal Fesch made her the same offers. In moments of scarcity, she turned to God, and He came to her aid with remarkable promptness, although He was pleased to have her live from day to day, like the birds of the air, in order to excite her confidence more and more, especially for the support of her large family. One day, while she was praying for this before the crucifix of Saint Paul, she heard in her ecstatic recollection a voice saying: "Return home and you will find help." Indeed, she found a letter from the Marquis Bandini, written from Florence, with a small draft.

"The Queen of Etruria complained that she never asked her for anything. One day, s he opened a dra reine d'Étrurie Sovereign who offered gold to Anna-Maria. wer full of gold in front of her, saying: 'Take then, my dear Anna, all that you wish.' Anna-Maria smiled and replied with gentleness: 'How simple you are! I serve God, who is richer than you; He provides and will provide for my needs through His goodness.'

It remains for us to make known the final moments of this admirable woman. Her death was as beautiful and as edifying as her life. She passed away in the same obscurity in which she had always kept herself hidden. God even permitted, in order to make her savor the bitterness of isolation more fully, that at the moment she drew her last breath, no one was found around her bed.

"The illness from which she died kept her in bed for seven months and a few days. Despite the cruel sufferings she endured, and despite the pain of leaving her numerous family without resources and abandoned to the charity of others, she maintained the most invariable resignation to the divine will in a perfect tranquility of spirit. She spoke of her approaching death as a journey that would have to be undertaken here below. She arranged from her bed the entire order of her family, up until the last three days of her life. Then she clearly announced the moment of her passing. She received all the sacraments. After having purified her soul, God wished to purify her body as well through the most acute sufferings; she bore them with invincible patience, although her humanity felt all the pain of them. She drew her last breath on June 9, 1837.

"The priest who had lived in her house for more than twenty years possessed only four scudi to support this poor family for the whole month. Nevertheless, trusting in Providence, he ordered suitable funeral arrangements, a lead coffin, a wax half-bust, a notarized act, and other expenses that could require two hundred scudi. He asked me to lend him about fifty scudi for the urgent things; I replied that I would send them the next day by my maestro di casa; but I felt such a vivid impulse in my heart that, before saying Holy Mass, I had to call my maestro di casa and charge him to carry the fifty scudi immediately, and I gave them with a full heart, out of gratitude for the memory of this holy woman, to whom I owed so much. I did not know then of the extreme poverty of this family and of the ecclesiastic who lived in the house; soon people from Milan and Turin sent all the necessary money.

"On the evening of Saturday, June 10, the body was transported to the parish, where it remained exposed, although covered, because of the cholera, on Sunday the 11th. In the evening, it was transported in a coffin sealed by Mr. Rosatini, the lawyer, to Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls. The parish priest with the cross, other priests in carriages, among others the ecclesiastic who lived with the family, followed the body, more nobilium. It was placed in a separate coffin, upon which this inscription was placed: D. O. M. Anna-Maria-Antonia Gesualda Taïgi Anna-Maria-Antonia Gesualda Taïgi Roman mother and mystic, Trinitarian tertiary. — Nata Giannetti in Siena il 30 maggio 1769 — Morta in Roma il 9 giugno 1837 — Terziaria scalza — Dell'Ordine della San Roma Birthplace of Maximian. tissima Trinità.

"The death of this virtuous woman excited the regret of all good people, who looked upon this event as the announcement of some scourge; for God is accustomed to withdraw from this world the souls He loves with predilection when He wishes to weigh down His arm. Indeed, the cholera broke out a month later.

"Everyone spoke of this death w choléra Plague that broke out one month after the saint's death. ith regret. The Cardinal-Vicar granted the authorization to collect all the information proper to preserve the memory of the virtues and extraordinary graces with which this holy woman was gifted."

A large number of witnesses were heard, and their depositions recorded in the official report, which counts nearly two thousand pages.

A pontifical decree soon declared Anna-Maria-Gesualda Taïgi venerable. On January 8, 1863, another decree introduced the cause of beatification, which has not ceased to strongly preoccupy the members of the Sacred Congregation, as well as the entire world, whose attention has been provoked by r Sacrée-Congrégation Roman body that advised on the extension of a saint's cult. evelations and predictions.

We have borrowed this biography from a small book published by Abbé Richard, and from the Memoirs of Cardinal Pedicini, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See.